5 Things That Went Wrong for the Toronto Maple Leafs During the Playoffs

Injury and Illness Troubles

The Leafs had quite the encounter with some bad luck heading into the playoffs this year when it came to the injury front.

After seeing their roster be about 100% healthy going into their tough matchup against the Bruins, they would see some of their best players go down to mysterious yet serious enough ailments such that they were unable to dress for key games during the series.

William Nylander had to miss the first three games of the playoffs due to what was deemed a case of severe migraines.

In addition, star centre Auston Matthews also had to miss two do-or-die games for the Leafs due to an undisclosed illness and an injury. The illness, which he played through earlier in the series, led him to getting the injury.

On top of that, rookie goalie Joseph Woll, who almost single-handedly won Games 5 and 6 for Toronto, had to sit out the seventh and deciding game because of an undisclosed injury that he incurred from Game 6. 

Then there was the perpetually disappointing Mitch Marner who was only one month removed from a high-ankle sprain that, by all rights, should have kept him out of the lineup for another month.

Obviously, the Bruins also had some bumps and bruises of their own, but none in particular that affected their main stars.

As for the Leafs, it happened to their key players that have helped carried the team throughout the regular season. So there’s no doubt it had at least some effect on the potential outcome of the series, like it or not.